Battle over jobs brings strikes to two government departments

On Friday 21 September, workers in the Department of Transport (DfT) are set to strike for the day.

Their colleagues at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), will join them in the afternoon.

Both disputes pit members of the PCS union against their pay and appraisal systems. A pre-determined 10 percent of workers are condemned into a “must improve” category.

Workers at Defra are also battling against threats of redundancies and the privatisation of the Rural Payments Agency.

Strikers from Nottingham and Swansea will be travelling to London to join the strike protest. It assembles at 1.30pm at the Defra headquarters in Smith Square, with a rally at Old Palace Yard.

The attack would see nurseries close at offices in Leicester, Wolverhampton, East Kilbride, Cardiff, Nottingham, Leeds, Salford and Blackburn. Parents and nursery workers have had just 12 weeks’ notice.